*cue drum roll*

[eldritchhobbit]

Happy Monday, everyone!

*cue drum roll* Guess what? I have a brand new official website! You're invited to drop by and check it out. My LiveJournal layout also has been redesigned to match the site. Huge thanks to the very talented Melissa K. Slouber, who created the banners for the website and LJ using artwork I love, a classic illustration by J.J. Grandville from Un Autre Monde (1844).


In other news...

* A Wicked Convergence of Circumstances has a new interview up with the wonderful fantasy and science fiction author marthawells here.

* I've discovered a great podcast with dramatic readings of fascinating short stories by the likes of Lord Dunsany, H.G. Wells, J.G. Ballard, Stanislaw Lem, Olaf Stapledon, Thomas Disch, and Ursula K. Le Guin. It's called Miette's Bedtime Story Podcast.



"In these divine pleasures permitted to me of walks in the June night under moon and stars,
I can put my life as a fact before me and stand aloof from its honor and shame."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals

Comments

[the-cornettist.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, very nice! She's extremely talented *g* *applauds Melissa K. Slouber* And... and... I can see you *g* - pretty :D

Happy new website :D

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. Melissa is very talented indeed; she managed to take an image I already loved and make me love it ten times more! I really appreciate your taking the time to visit the site and give me feedback. :)

[the-cornettist.livejournal.com]

It's the very least I can do. I've had a click on all the links now, I am completely awed by your list of achievements and it's wonderful to be able to have a picture of you and Larry in my mind. I already knew Virginia, of course *g*

I'm going to shush now before I say anything really stupid... lol.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

How very kind of you! *hugs* Thanks so much. I know what you mean about it being nice to see faces - it's funny how, connecting online, we often have friends we wouldn't even recognize if we saw them in person!

Of course, I had to struggle against my first impulse, which was to fill up every page with pictures of Virginia. :)

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

Oh, very pretty and easy on the eye indeed.

And is that your good self? You are one extremely lovely lady.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you like it! It's the first time I've ever "built" something like this, and I'm still riding a rather steep learning curve. :) Thanks to Melissa's artistry with the header, though, I think it's finally come together.

Yes, that's me - and what a kind thing to say! Thank you so much. I wanted it to seem personal, which is why it's my face there - of course, my preference would've been to turn the whole thing into a Boston terrier shrine for Virginia! Ha!

[estellye.livejournal.com]

It's fantastic! What amazing and perfect art! The navigation is easy, consistent, sensible, interesting (I like the option to click on photos for more cool stuff), and thorough. The descriptions of the photos are also really fun to read. Great job! I'll explore more thoroughly later.

If you didn't see my last entry, there is a must see video for you here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW7OPByRGDY

You may also enjoy this premiered the same event: http://sendables.jibjab.com/originals/hes_barack_obama

And the President's comments weren't bad, either: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxNJg7d7D_s

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you so much! I really appreciate your feedback. I'm thrilled that the navigation and divisions work for you; those were the toughest things to decide upon as I was trying to figure out the layout. I'm glad you like the photos and their descriptions, too; I realized that my last site included lots of sterile, uninterrupted text, so I was trying to get away from that. I'm still riding a rather steep learning curve (!!!), so I may be able to make some small improvements here or there soon, but I'm glad the overall structure makes sense. I absolutely adore what Melissa did with the header; from an image I loved, she seemed to create a new work of art that spoke even more to me!

Thanks so much for these fantastic links. You've put a huge smile on my face! :)

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Nice website!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[thepirateship.livejournal.com]

I like the new design. :-)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[cookiefleck.livejournal.com]

Website looks great!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks so much! :)

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Very nice!!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I appreciate it!

[llembas.livejournal.com]

Ooh! It looks very pretty!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! :)

[gloriana.livejournal.com]

Lovely website :) And I loved the photo - what a great smile you have :)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Aw, what a lovely thing to say! Thank you so much. :)

[ankh-hpl.livejournal.com]

This new design expresses all your interests/activities with one elegant illustration. Nice choice -- and let's hear it for cute dog pics on Web sites! (I need more Corgis on my site, I really do.)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I just adore Grandville's artwork, and I'm so glad you think it's fitting. I definitely second the call for more dog pics. Bring on the Corgis!

[abbie (from livejournal.com)]

Yay for the new design! I like the navigation and the banners. It looks great! You look great! I think what everyone here wants to say, but is too scared to, is that Dr. Sturgis is hot! Haha.

I'll have to check out that podcast, Miette's Bedtime Story...such an appealing title to me. I enjoy bedtime stories.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I think you'll like Miette's Bedtime Stories! She has a fascinting voice and a very eclectic choice to stories.

I'm so very glad you like the new design! Thanks so much for visiting it and commenting.

*blush* You're much too kind! I don't know about "hot," except in the most literal sense; it is, after all, going to be in the nineties today, according to the local meteorologist. So everyone here is hot! LOL. Bring on the winter, I say. I've been ready for it since March.

[travisprinzi.livejournal.com]

Twisting! What a great song! I love TMBG. Sadly, I lost track of what they've been doing since Severe Tire Damage, I think. I need to catch up.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I need to catch up, too! TMBG used to be one of "my" bands, but I'm rather stuck in the past in terms of their albums.

I owe you an email, by the way - I'll be in touch shortly! Thanks so much.

[travisprinzi.livejournal.com]

And as I said over email, and in agreement with all of these commenters - the new site is great. Love it.

Just gotta love the brilliance and user-friendliness of Thesis. And what you and your artist did with it is great.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! Your site was one of the main inspirations for me researching and going with Thesis, so I'm grateful for your excellent example. I'm so glad you like the new site! Thanks!

[suzume234.livejournal.com]

I love the picture at the top of the page!! :)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! Melissa did an amazing job with Grandville's art. I'm just thrilled with it. :)